[1] Hilgenfeld, Bacon and others hold that this letter is partly
preserved in 2 Cor. vi. 14-vii. 1, but the evidence for removing
those verses from their present position is insufficient.
CORINTO, a seaport on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, in the department
of Chinandega, built on the small island of Asserradores or Corinto, at
the entrance to Realejo Bay, 65 m. by rail N.W. of Managua. Pop. (1900)
about 3000. The town, which was founded in 1849, and first came into
prominence as a port in 1863, has a spacious and sheltered harbour, the
best in Nicaragua. It possesses no docks or wharves, and vessels anchor
some 500 yds. off-shore to load or discharge cargo by means of lighters.
On the mainland is the terminus of a railway to Leon, Managua and other
commercial centres. Coffee, gold, mahogany, rubber and cattle are
largely exported; and more than half the foreign trade of Nicaragua
passes through this port, which has completely superseded the roadstead
of Realejo, now partly filled with sandbanks, but from 1550 to 1850 the
principal seaport of the country. About 450 ocean-going ships, of some
450,000 tons, annually enter the port. Most of the foreign vessels are
owned in Germany or the United States. The coasting trade is restricted
to Nicaraguan boats.
CORIOLANUS, GAIUS (or GNAEUS) MARCIUS, Roman legendary hero of patrician
descent. According to tradition, his surname was due to the bravery
displayed by him at the siege of Corioli (493 B.C.) during the war
against the Volscians (but see below). In 492, when there was a famine
in Rome, he advised that the people should not be relieved out of the
supplies obtained from Sicily, unless they would consent to the
abolition of their tribunes. For this he was accused by the tribunes,
and, being condemned to exile, took refuge with his friend Attius
Tullius, king of the Volscians. A pretext for a quarrel with Rome was
found, and Coriolanus, in command of the Volscian army, advanced against
his native city. In vain the first men of Rome prayed for moderate
terms. He would agree to nothing less than the restoration to the
Volscians of all their land, and their admission among the Roman
citizens. A mission of the chief priests also failed. At last, persuaded
by his mother Veturia and his wife Volumnia, he led back the Volscian
army, and restored the conquered towns. He died at an advanced age in
exile amongst the Volscians; according to others, he was put to death by
them as a traitor; a third tradition (mentioned, but ridiculed, by
Cicero) represents him as having taken his own life.
The whole legend is open to serious criticism. At the traditional date
(493 B.C.) Corioli was not a Volscian possession, but one of the Latin
cities which had concluded a treaty of alliance with Rome; further, Livy
himself states that the chroniclers knew nothing of a campaign carried
on by the consul Postumus Cominius Auruncus (under whom Coriolanus is
said to have served) against the Volscians. Only one of the consuls was
mentioned as having concluded the treaty; the absence of the other was
consequently assumed, and a reason for it found in a Volscian war. The
bestowal of a cognomen from a captured city was unknown at the time, the
first instance being that of Scipio; in any case, it would have been
conferred upon the commander-in-chief, Postumus Cominius Auruncus, not
upon a subordinate. The conquest of Corioli by Coriolanus is invented to
explain the surname. The details of the famine are borrowed from those
of later years, especially 433 and 411. The incident of Coriolanus
taking refuge with the Volscian king, who, according to Plutarch, was his
bitter enemy, curiously resembles the appeal of Themistocles to the
Molossian king Admetus. Further, the tradition that Coriolanus, like
Themistocles, committed suicide, renders it a probable conjecture that
these incidents are derived from a Greek source. The contradictions in
the accounts of the campaign against Rome and its inherent improbability
give further ground for suspicion. Twelve important towns are taken in a
single summer apparently without resistance on the part of the Romans,
and after the retirement of Coriolanus they are immediately abandoned by
the conquerors. It is strange that the Volscians should have entrusted a
stranger with the command of their army, and it is possible that the
attribution of their successes to a Roman general was intended to
gratify the national pride and obliterate the memory of a disastrous
war. It is suggested that Coriolanus never commanded the Volscian army
at all, but that, like Appius Herdonius--the Sabine chieftain who in
460, with a band of fugitives and slaves, obtained possession of the
capital--he appeared at the gates of Rome at the head of a body of
exiles (but at a much later date, c. 443), at a time when the city was
in great distress, perhaps as the result of a pestilence, and only
desisted from making himself master of Rome at the earnest entreaty of
his mother. This seems to be the historical nucleus of the tradition,
which accentuates the great influence exercised by and the respect shown
to the Roman matrons in early times.
ANCIENT AUTHORITIES.--Plutarch's _Life_; Livy ii. 34-40; Dion. Halic.
vi. 92-94, vii. 21-27, 41-47, viii. 1-60; Cicero, _Brutus_, x. 42. The
story is the subject of Shakespeare's _Coriolanus_. For a critical
examination of the story see Schwegler, _Romische Geschichte_, bk.
xxiv.; Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, _Credibility of Early Roman History_,
ch. xii. 19-23; W. Ihne, _History of Rome_, i.; T. Mommsen, "Die
Erzahlung von Cn. Marcius Coriolanus," in _Hermes_, iv. (1869); E.
Pais, _Storia di Roma_, i. ch. 4 (1898).
CORIOLI, an ancient Volscian city in _Latium adiectum_, taken, according
to the Roman annals in 493 B.C., with Longula and Pollusca, and retaken
(but see above) for the Volsci by Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, its original
conqueror, who, in disgust at his treatment by his countrymen, had
deserted to the enemy. After this it does not appear in history, and we
hear soon afterwards (443 B.C.) of a dispute between Ardea and Aricia
about some land which had been part of the territory of Corioli, but had
at an unknown date passed to Rome with Corioli. The site is apparently
to be sought in the N.W. portion of the district between the sea, the
river Astura and the Alban Hills; but it cannot be more accurately fixed
(the identification with Monte Giove, S. of the Valle-Aricciana, rests
on no sufficient evidence), and even in the time of Pliny it ranked
among the lost cities of Latium.
CORIPPUS, FLAVIUS CRESCONIUS, Roman epic poet of the 6th century A.D. He
was a native of Africa, and in one of the MSS. is called _grammaticus_
(teacher). He has been identified, but on insufficient grounds, with
Cresconius, an African bishop (7th century), author of a _Concordia
Canonum_, or collection of the laws of the church. Nothing is known of
Corippus beyond what is contained in his own poems. He appears to have
held the office of tribune or notary (_scriniarius_) under Anastasius,
imperial treasurer and chamberlain of Justinian, at the end of whose
reign he left Africa for Constantinople, in consequence of having lost
his property during the Moorish and Vandal wars. He was the author of
two poems, of considerable importance for the history of the times, one
of which was not discovered till the beginning of the 19th century. The
latter poem, dedicated to the nobles of Carthage, which comes first in
point of time, is called _Johannis_ or _De bellis Libycis_, and relates
the overthrow of the Moors by a certain Johannes, _magister militum_ in
546; it is in eight books (the last is unfinished) and contains about
5000 hexameters. The narrative commences with the despatch of Johannes
to the theatre of war by Justinian, and ends with the decisive victory
near Carthage (548). The other poem (_In laudem Justini minoris_), in
four books, contains the death of Justinian, the coronation of his
successor Justin II. (14th of November 565), and the early events of his
reign. It is preceded by a preface, and a short and fulsome panegyric on
Anastasius, the poet's patron. The _Laus_ was published at Antwerp in
1581 by Michael Ruyz Azagra, secretary to the emperor Rudolf II., from a
9th or 10th century MS. The preface contains a reference to a previous
work by the author on the wars in Africa, and although Johannes
Cuspinianus (1473-1529) in his _De Caesaribus et Imperatoribus_
professed to have seen a MS. of it in the library at Buda (destroyed by
Suleiman II. in 1527), it was not till 1814 that it was discovered at
Milan by Cardinal Mazzucchelli, librarian of the Ambrosian library, from
the codex Trivultianus (in the library of the marquis Trivulzi), the
only MS. of the _Johannis_ still extant.
The _Johannis_ is of great value, not only from a purely historical
point of view, but also as giving a description of the land and people
of Africa, which conscientiously records the impressions of an
intelligent native observer; many of his statements as to manners and
customs are confirmed both by independent ancient authorities (such as
Procopius) and by our knowledge of the modern Berbers. Virgil, Lucan,
and Claudian were the poet's chief models. The _Laus_, which was written
when he was advanced in years, although marred by Byzantine servility
and gross flattery of a by no means worthy object, throws much light
upon Byzantine court ceremony, as in the account of the accession of
Justin and the reception of the embassy of the Avars. On the whole the
language and metre of Corippus, considering the age in which he lived
and the fact that he was not a native Italian, is remarkably pure. That
he was a Christian is rendered probable by negative indications, such as
the absence of all the usual mythological accessories of an epic poem,
positive allusions to texts of Scripture, and the highly orthodox
passage _Laus_ iv. 294 ff.
The editions of the _Johannis_ by P. Mazzucchelli (1820) and of the
_Laus_ by P. F. Foggini (1777) are still valuable for their
commentaries. They are both included in the 28th volume of the Bonn
_Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae_. The best modern editions are
by J. Partsch (in _Monumenta Germaniae historica_, 1879), with very
valuable prolegomena, and M. Petschenig (_Berliner Studien fur
klassische Philologie_, iv., 1886); see also Gibbon, _Decline and
Fall_, ch. xlv.
CORISCO, the name of a bay and an island on the Guinea Coast, West
Africa. The bay is bounded N. by Cape San Juan (1 deg. 10' N.) and S. by
Cape Esterias (0 deg. 36' N.), and is about 31 m. across, while it extends
inland some 15 m. The bay is much encumbered with sandbanks, which
impair its value as a harbour. Whereas the Muni river or estuary, which
enters the bay on its northern side, has a maximum depth of over 100
ft., vessels entering it have to come by a channel with an average depth
of six fathoms. The entrance to the southern part of the bay is
obstructed by the Bana Bank, which extends for 9 m., rendering
navigation dangerous. The bay encloses many small islands and islets,
some hardly distinguishable from sandbanks and submerged at high water,
giving rise to a native saying that "half the islands live under water."
The principal islands are four, Bana, Great and Little Elobey, and
Corisco, the last-named lying farthest to seaward and giving its name to
the bay.
Corisco Island, the largest of the group, is some 3 m. long by 1-3/4 m.
in breadth and has an area of about 5-1/2 sq. m. The surface of the
island is very diversified. On a miniature scale it possesses mountains
and valleys, rivers, lakes, forests and swamps, grassland and bushland,
moorland and parkland. The forests supply ebony and logwood for export.
The natives are a Bantu-Negro tribe called Benga. There are among them
many converts to Roman Catholicism and a few Protestants. Corisco and
the other islands named are Spanish possessions and are governed as
dependencies of Fernando Po.
See Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, ch. xvii. (London,
1897); E. L. Perea, "Guinea espanola: La isla de Corisco," in _Revista
de geog. colon. y mercantil_ (Madrid, 1906).
CORK, RICHARD BOYLE, 1ST EARL OF (1566-1643), Irish statesman, second
son of Roger Boyle of Faversham in Kent, a descendant of an ancient
Herefordshire family, and of Joan, daughter of Robert Naylor of
Canterbury, was born at Canterbury on the 3rd of October 1566, and was
educated at the King's school and at Bennet (Corpus Christi) College,
Cambridge, where he was admitted in 1583. He afterwards studied law at
the Middle Temple and became clerk to Sir Richard Manwood, chief baron
of the exchequer; but finding his position offered little opportunity
for advancement he determined to make a new start in Ireland. He landed
in Dublin on the 23rd of June 1588, as he relates himself, with L27, 3s.
in money, a gold bracelet worth L10, and a diamond ring, besides some
fine wearing apparel. He began to make his fortune almost immediately.
In 1590 he obtained the appointment of deputy escheator to John Crofton,
the escheator-general, and in 1595 he married Joan, daughter and
co-heiress of William Appsley of Limerick, who died in 1599, having
brought him an estate of L500 a year.
Meanwhile he had been the object of the attacks of Sir Henry Wallop and
others, incited, according to his own account, by envy at his success
and increasing prosperity, and was apprehended on various charges of
fraud in his office, being more than once thrown into prison. He was on
the point of leaving for England to justify himself to the queen, when
the rebellion in Munster in October 1598 again reduced him to poverty
and obliged him to return to London to his chambers at the Temple. He
was, however, almost immediately taken by Essex into his service, when
Sir Henry Wallop again renewed his prosecution, with the result that
Boyle was summoned before the star chamber. His enemies appear to have
failed in substantiating their accusations, and in the course of the
inquiry, at which he had secured the presence of the queen herself, he
was able to expose several instances of malversation on the part of his
opponent, who was dismissed in consequence from his office of treasurer,
while Boyle himself, who had favourably impressed the queen, was
declared by her as "a man fit to be employed by ourselves" and was at
once made clerk of the council of Munster. He brought to Elizabeth the
news of the victory near Kingsale in December 1601, and in October 1602
was again sent over by Sir George Carew, the president of Munster, on
Irish affairs; and on this occasion, at the instance of Carew, he bought
for L1000 the whole of Sir Walter Raleigh's lands in Cork, Waterford and
Tipperary, consisting of 12,000 acres with immense capabilities of
development. This offered a splendid opportunity for the exercise of his
genius for business and administration. Manufactures were established,
the breeding of cattle and fish introduced, mines opened, colonists from
England encouraged to come over, the natural resources of the land
developed, bridges, harbours and roads constructed, and towns settled,
order being maintained by 13 castles garrisoned by retainers.
While himself quickly accumulating vast riches, the services which
Boyle rendered to the government and to the nation at such a time of
disorder and transition were incalculable. He soon became the most
powerful subject in Ireland. On the 25th of July 1603 he married, as his
second wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, secretary of
state, and was knighted. In 1606 he became a privy councillor for
Munster and in 1613 for Ireland. On the 6th of September 1616 he was
raised to the peerage as Lord Boyle, baron of Youghal, and on the 26th
of October 1620 was created earl of Cork and Viscount Dungarvan. He was
appointed on the 26th of October 1629 a lord justice, and on the 9th of
November 1631 lord high treasurer. Though no peer of England, he was "by
writ called into the Upper House by His Majesty's great grace," and took
his place as an "assistant sitting on the inside of the Woolsack."[1]
The appointment of Wentworth (Lord Strafford), however, as lord deputy
in 1633 put an end to the predominant power and influence of Cork in
Ireland. "A most cursed man," he writes in his diary on Wentworth's
arrival, "to all Ireland and to me in particular." In reality these two
great men had much in common, held similar views of administration, and
had the same talents for practical statesmanship. Cork had already
carried out in Munster the policy which Strafford desired to see
extended to the whole of Ireland. But Cork belonged to the "spacious
days of great Elizabeth," and for such a man there was no room within
the narrow despotism and intolerance of the government of Charles. The
subjection of the great was part of Strafford's settled policy, and
consequently, instead of seeking his collaboration in developing the
country and in maintaining order, he studied merely to diminish his
influence. He subjected him to various humiliations. He forced him to
remove his wife's tomb from the choir in St Patrick's at Dublin, and
deprived him arbitrarily of the greater part of the revenues of Youghal,
a portion of the Raleigh estates. "No physic," wrote Laud, delighted,
"better than a vomit if it be given in time, and therefore you have
taken a very judicious course to administer one so early to my Lord of
Cork. I hope it will do him good...."[2] Cork, however, refrained from
any systematic or retaliatory resistance, and even simulated an
admiration for Strafford's rule. At the latter's trial he was an
important witness, but took no active part in the prosecution, though he
thoroughly approved of his condemnation and execution. Scarcely had he
returned to Ireland from witnessing his rival's destruction when the
rebellion broke out, but his influence and preparations, supported by
the military prowess of his sons, were sufficient to offer a successful
resistance to the rebels in Munster and to save the province from ruin.
This was his last great service to the state. He died about the 15th of
September 1643, leaving a large and illustrious family by his second
wife.
Four of his seven sons received independent peerages,--Richard, created
Baron Clifford and earl of Burlington; Lewis, Viscount Kinalmeaky,
killed in 1642 at the battle of Liscarrol; Roger, baron of Broghill and
earl of Orrery; and Francis, Viscount Shannon. Another son was Robert
Boyle (q.v.), the famous natural philosopher and chemist.
The title passed to the eldest surviving son, RICHARD BOYLE, 1st earl of
Burlington and 2nd earl of Cork (1612-1698), who matriculated at Christ
Church, Oxford, and was knighted in 1624. Returning home after
travelling abroad he married in 1635 Elizabeth, daughter and heir of
Henry, Lord Clifford, later earl of Cumberland. On the outbreak of the
rebellion he supported his father in Munster, fought at the battle of
Liscarrol, and raised forces for the first war with the Scots. In 1640
he represented Appleby in the Long Parliament, and in the civil war he
supported zealously the royal cause, being created in 1643 Baron
Clifford of Lanesborough in the peerage of England, in addition to the
earldom of Cork which he inherited from his father the same year. At the
Restoration he obtained also the earldom of Burlington (or Bridlington),
and was appointed lord-lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire,
resigning this office through opposition to the government of James II.
He held the office of lord treasurer of Ireland from 1680 till 1695. He
died on the 15th of January 1698. His two sons having predeceased him,
he was succeeded in his titles by his grandson Charles, issue of his
eldest son Charles, as 2nd earl of Burlington and 3rd earl of Cork; and
on the extinction of the direct male line in the person of Richard, the
4th earl, in 1753 the earldom of Cork fell to the younger branch of the
Boyle family, in the person of John, 5th earl of Orrery, he and later
earls being "of Cork and Orrery."
JOHN BOYLE, 5th earl of Cork and Orrery (1707-1762), only son of the 4th
earl of Orrery, was born on the 2nd of January 1707. He was educated at
Christ Church, Oxford, and was led by indifferent health and many
untoward accidents to cultivate in retirement his talents for literature
and poetry. His translation of the _Letters of Pliny the Younger_, with
various notes, for the use of his eldest son, was published in 1751. He
also published _Remarks on the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift_
(1751), in several letters addressed to his second son, and _Memoirs of
Robert Carey, earl of Monmouth_, from the original manuscript, with
preface and notes. He died on the 16th of November 1762. His _Letters
from Italy_ appeared in 1774, edited, with memoir, by the Rev. J.
Duncombe. The earldom continued in later years in the Boyle family,
being held in 1909 by the 10th earl (b. 1861). The wife of the 7th earl
(see CORK and ORRERY, MARY, COUNTESS OF) was a famous figure in society
in the early 19th century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR 1ST EARL.--_True Remembrances_, written by himself
and printed by Birch in his edition of the works of Robert Boyle;
_Lismore Papers_, ed. by A. B. Grosart (10 vols., 1886-1887), 1st
series consisting of the diary from 1611 to his death and of
autobiographical notes, and 2nd series of correspondence; _Life of
Lord Cork_, by Dorothea Townshend (1904); article in the _Dict. of
Nat. Biog._, with authorities there given; _Egerton_ MSS. 80 (copies
of correspondence); _Add. MSS._, Brit. Mus., 19831-19832 (rebellion in
Munster, examination before the Star Chamber, correspondence) and
18023; Strafford's _Letters_; _Calendars of State Papers, Domestic and
Irish_, and _Carew Papers_; E. Lodge's _Irish Peerage_, i. 144; E.
Budgell's _Memoirs of the Boyles_ (1737); Ed. Edwards's _Life of
Raleigh_; Gardiner's _Hist. of England_; Charles Smith's _History of
Cork_ (1893); R. Caulfield's _Council Book of Youghal_; also the
biography in _Biographia Britannica_, Kippis, vol. ii.